Arkayvizyon 7

Arkayvizyon 7, also known as Arkayvizyon All Stars, is the 7th edition of the national final to select the Arkaystian artist for the Maia Song Contest. For the 7th edition, past artists were invited back for another chance to represent their country at the contest. It was confirmed on 19 January 2017 by the host broadcaster that each past contest would be represented at the All Stars edition, with a total of 14 acts returning. Courtney Stodden was confirmed to return as the main host for the 6th consecutive edition. Krista Siegfrids was confirmed as Stodden's co-host on the 26 January 2017, with Cindy Chiang returning as green room host.

The 14 returning artists were revealed on 27 January 2017, with all editions represented. The returning artists had the opportunity to bring a new song to the table or compete with their previous entry once again. The Mwangi Arena was extended to allow for a bigger stage and larger crowd, with capacity raised from 15,000 to 22,000.

The contest was won by Alex Newell, with his song "This Ain't Over". The result was the largest margin of victory in the contest to date. Newell also became the first male solo artist to represent the country at the Maia Song Contest. SAHA finished as runner-up for the second contest in a row, with their song "To Be Simpler". Duo Karmin rounded out the top 3 with their song "Acapella". This was also their 3rd time to finish in the top 3 of the contest after doing so in their previous two appearances.





Format
For the seventh contest the number of songs increased to 14 and the voting system remained in line with that of the Maia Song Contest. The two lowest ranked songs in each nation's jury rank would receive no points from that delegation. Each province selected a jury made up of 5 music industry professionals who would present a set of votes that would act as 50% of the vote from each province. The remaining 50% would be made up of a national televote in each region.

Returning Artists
All artists would be returning due to the special edition of the contest. The following artists returning are:







Notable Absences
It was announced on 26 February 2017 that two-time Arkayvizyon winner and two-time Maia Song Contest top 10 finisher, Dua Lipa, would not be returning for the All Stars edition of the contest. In a radio interview with DJ Stefjan Kaysic, Lipa stated that she felt it was time to let other artists step up for the country and that she had represented her country proudly twice before. It was also announced that Lipa would appear at the contest to sing a medley as one of the interval acts on the night of the contest.

The most recent winner of the contest, Emji, was not asked to return to the contest per a post from her Instagram on the 26 February 2017. She stated she was "disappointed" to not be asked back but wished the "best of luck" to all returning contestants.

Arkayvizyon 5 runner-up Feder had been invited to take part in the contest but turned it down due to commitments outside the contest. In July 2017, Sabina Ddumba also confirmed in an interview with Radio Arkaystia that she had been offered a place in the competition, but turned it down because she was working on other music projects.

Interval Acts
On the 26 February 2017, Arkaystian superstar Dua Lipa was announced as the first interval act in the All Stars show. Lipa would sing a medley of her two entries, "Hotter Than Hell" and "Blow Your Mind (Mwah)" as well as debut her latest single.

It was also confirmed on the same day that co-host Krista Siegfrids would be singing her song "Snurra min jord" as one of the interval acts during the contest. Siegfrids' song debuted at number 1 in the country and her home country, Zycantia.

Results
A recap is available here and a playlist is available here. We encourage everyone to vote in this special edition of the Arkaystian National Final!